Land-grab: State NRI commission lambast city police alleging delay

The Punjab State Commission for NRIs has taken a strong note of the delay caused in investigating an NRI's land-grab case and has asked the police to take notice of the issue.

The commission has also asked Ludhiana police to take action against the assistant sub inspector (ASI), who facilitated the alleged land grabbing at Sarabha Nagar area.

Justice Arvind Kumar (retd), chairman of the commission, and ADGP S Chattopadhyaya, member of the commission passed the orders on Thursday.

Property of Harpreet Kaur Rana, an NRI residing in Canada, was allegedly grabbed in May this year. Her brother, Ravjot Singh, who is also a partner in the property, is running from pillar to post, but to no avail.

He said the incident dates back to May 26, when there was no one at his home. He alleged that his property was grabbed by land mafia supported by Pritam Kaur, an NRI.

On July 15, the prime minister office had also written a letter in this case and had asked the police to take action. The disputed property number 81 J at Sarabha Nagar was sold off by one Pritam Kaur, who is an NRI herself, through her attorney Daljit Singh to one Harjit Singh, who further sold off the property to Ravjot and his sister.

“A sale deed was registered on May 9, 2006, after which the names of the applicants were recorded in the documents of Municipal Corporation,” Ravjot Singh said.

As per Ravjot, Pritam Kaur registered an FIR under sections 420, 409, 467 and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code against the complainant (Ravjot) and alleged that she had no knowledge about the sale deed and the thumb impression on the attorney document which was allegedly issued to Daljit Singh by her.

According to the official documents with HT, the police found the claims to be false after a thorough inquiry and the power of attorney executed by Pritam Kaur was found to be genuine.

The documents also states that after an inquiry from government forensic laboratory, the thumb impressions were found to be that of Pritam Kaur.

Ravjot claimed that a case was filed in the high court regarding the matter, but Pritam Kaur managed to get the warrant of possession “fraudulently”.

The possession of the property was taken by the grabbers on May 26, 2013, in presence of bailiff Kulwant Singh and assistant sub inspector (ASI) Angrez Singh of Sarabha Nagar. Interestingly, the possession was taken despite the fact that the lower court had issued a stay in Ravjot's favor. On May 31, Ravjot managed to get a stay order from the high court as well.

The letter by the NRI commission sent to the police has lambasted the city police stating: “The commission has pursued the complaint. Prima-facie it transpires the highhandedness and disrespect to the status-quo (stay) orders. So far, the act and misconduct committed by the court officials can be brought to the notice of the court for taking appropriate action against them.”

The commission has also directed the police commissioner of Ludhiana to take appropriate action against ASI Angrez Singh for allowing possession of the property to the grabbers.